Cheese-like dairy products and process for producing the same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method of producing a cheese-like dairy product, characterized by adding at least 10 wt %, relative to the starting material milk, of water containing  Paenibacillus  sp. bacteria or water that has been treated with immobilized cells of  Paenibacillus  sp. Bacteria into starting material milk, followed by maintaining at a prescribed temperature, separating off the curd thus formed, and performing productization with or without further maturing; a cheese-like dairy product thus produced; and a water purifier packed with a support having  Paenibacillus  sp. bacteria immobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing material.

This application is a National Stage application of PCT/JP02/03569,filed Apr. 10, 2002. Priority to Japanese application 2001-110756, filedApr. 10, 2001, is claimed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a cheese-like dairy product and amethod of producing the same. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a method of producing a cheese-like dairy product in which,using water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria or water that has beentreated with immobilized cells of Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, startingmaterial milk is coagulated, and the viable count of general livebacteria, coli bacteria, coliform bacteria and so on is markedlyreduced, whereby it becomes possible to produce a novel cheese-likedairy product having good flavor and safety as a product, and to theproduct produced. The present invention is useful as an inventionproviding a novel technique that enables such a cheese-like dairyproduct having good flavor and safety to be produced by utilizing thefunctions of Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, without using a starter orrennet as used in conventional cheese production.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, in the cheese production process, a method is adopted inwhich pasteurized cow's milk or goat's milk is used as starting materialmilk, a lactic acid bacteria starter is added thereto to make thestarting material milk acidic, a milk-coagulating enzyme such aschymosin is added to coagulate the milk protein casein, the coagulum(curd) and milk serum (whey) are separated, and the coagulum is maturedto produce cheese. The above-mentioned milk-coagulating enzyme does nothave sterilizing ability, and hence in general it is only acceptable touse pasteurized milk as the starting material milk.

In this way, with the conventional cheese production method, a method isadopted in which a lactic acid bacteria starter is added to the startingmaterial milk, and once the pH has dropped to a prescribed level, rennetis added to coagulate the milk. With the conventional method, it is thusnecessary to proliferate the starter lactic acid bacteria by repeatingsubculture a plurality of times from a stored strain. Moreover, thestarter is added to a large amount of the starting material milk, andhence it is necessary to produce a large amount of a highly activemother starter. Furthermore, quality control must be carried outthoroughly such that there is no contamination with other unwantedbacteria when using the starter.

Moreover, to inoculate with the starter and attain the target pH, it isnecessary, for example, to culture the starting material milk at 20° C.for at least several hours. Furthermore, rennet is added to coagulatethe milk once the pH has dropped; this rennet is an enzyme taken fromcalves' stomachs, and is expensive. There is, on the other hand, amethod of preparing rennet by culturing a microorganism, but as with thecase of taking the rennet from calves' stomachs, this is expensive, andmoreover there is a problem that the product becomes bitter.

In view of the prior art described above, it is a problem of the presentinvention to develop a novel technique enabling a high-qualitycheese-like dairy product to be produced without using a starter orrennet as described above; according to the present invention, thisproblem can be solved by utilizing the functions of Paenibacillus sp.cells, instead of using a starter and rennet as described above.

The present invention provides a method of producing a high-qualitycheese-like dairy product without using rennet, which is expensive, or astarter, as used in a conventional cheese production method, and aproduct thus produced.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a cheese-likedairy product, characterized by adding at least 10 wt %, relative to thestarting material milk, of water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteriaor water that has been treated with immobilized cells of Paenibacillussp. bacteria, into starting material milk, followed by maintaining at aprescribed temperature, separating off the curd thus formed, andperforming productization with or without further manufacturing; acheese-like dairy product thus produced; and a water purifier packedwith a support having Paenibacillus sp. bacteria immobilized thereon anda filter medium as a packing material.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method ofproducing a cheese-like dairy product that enables a high-qualitycheese-like dairy product to be produced efficiently and economically,without using rennet, which is expensive, or a starter, as used in aconventional cheese production method.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a methodof producing a novel cheese-like dairy product that enables theproduction to be carried out using not only pasteurized milk but alsoraw milk, and a product thus produced.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide amilk-coagulating agent that contains Paenibacillus sp. cells and is usedwhen implementing the above-mentioned method for producing a cheese-likedairy product, and a water purifier packed with a support havingPaenibacillus sp. cells immobilized thereon and a filter medium as apacking material.

To attain the above objects, the present invention is constituted fromthe following technical means.

(1) A method of producing a cheese-like dairy product, characterized byadding, to starting material milk, water containing Paenibacillus sp.bacteria or water that has been treated with immobilized cells ofPaenibacillus sp. bacteria, maintaining the resulting mixture at aprescribed temperature, separating off the curd thus formed, and makinginto a product as is or after maturing.

(2) The method according to (1) above, wherein the starting materialmilk is selected from raw milk, low-temperature-pasteurized milk,high-temperature-sterilized milk, and ultrapasteurized milk.

(3) The method according to (1) above, wherein the water containingPaenibacillus sp. bacteria or the water that has been treated withimmobilized cells of Paenibacillus sp. bacteria is added in an amount ofat least 10 wt % relative to the starting material milk.

(4) The method according to (1) above, wherein the mixture is held atroom temperature or heated to 30 to 38° C., and the curd and whey areseparated once the pH has reached 4 to 6.

(5) The method according to (1) above, wherein the curd is matured byimmersing in saturated brine.

(6) The method according to (1) above, wherein water that has beentreated using a water purifier packed with a support havingPaenibacillus sp. bacteria immobilized thereon and a filter medium as apacking material is added to the starting material milk.

(7) The method according to (6) above, wherein the support contains, asa constituent thereof, a sintered body obtained by sintering a ceramicstarting material.

(8) A milk-coagulating agent for use in the method according to any of(1) through (7) above, the milk-coagulating agent being for producingthe cheese-like dairy product and characterized by containingPaenibacillus sp. bacteria and/or an extracellular product thereof.

(9) A cheese-like dairy product produced using the method according toany of (1) through (7) above, the cheese-like dairy productcharacterized by separating off curd formed using the milk-coagulatingaction of the water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria or the waterthat has been treated with immobilized cells of Paenibacillus sp.bacteria, and making into a product as is or after maturing.

(10) A water purifier for use in the method according to any of (1)through (7) above, the water purifier characterized by being packed witha support having Paenibacillus sp. bacteria immobilized thereon and afilter medium as a packing material.

(11) The water purifier according to (10) above, wherein the supportcontains, as a constituent thereof, a sintered body obtained bysintering a ceramic starting material.

The present invention will now be described in more detail.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a cheese-likedairy product, characterized by adding, to starting material milk, watercontaining Paenibacillus sp. bacteria or water that has been treatedwith immobilized cells of Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, maintaining theresulting mixture at a prescribed temperature, separating off the curdthus formed, and making into a product as is or after maturing, and tothe product produced.

In the present invention, for example raw milk,low-temperature-pasteurized milk, high-temperature-sterilized milk,ultrapasteurized milk, or the like can be used, but there is nolimitation thereto. Out of these, use of low-temperature-pasteurizedmilk or raw milk having a large number of useful bacteria gives aproduct having good texture, taste, flavor and so on after maturation,and hence in the present invention it is favorable to use such astarting material milk.

In the present invention, water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria,or water that has been treated with immobilized cells of Paenibacillussp. bacteria, is added to the starting material milk. This bacterium hasbeen deposited with the National Institute of Advanced IndustrialScience and Technology (Independent Administrative Institution), whichis a public depository institution, with the accession number being FERMP-18138.

This Paenibacillus sp. bacterium is known to be low risk, with moststrains falling under level 1 in the new biosafety level classificationfor pathogenic bacteria described in ‘Japanese Journal of Bacteriology,55 (4): 655-674, 2000’. Moreover, Paenibacillus sp. is split off fromthe Bacillus genus, is named in ‘IJSB (International Journal ofSystematic Bacteriology), Vol. 147, 289-298, 1997’ naming only the majorfatty acids characteristically, and has been registered using 16S rRNADNA analysis.

The water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, or the water that hasbeen treated with immobilized cells of Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, ispreferably prepared, for example, by treating water using a waterpurifier packed with a support having Paenibacillus sp. bacteriaimmobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing material. However,there is no limitation thereto, with it being possible to similarly usewater having Paenibacillus sp. bacteria added thereto, or water preparedby making water come into contact with immobilized cells ofPaenibacillus sp. bacteria, or any water prepared using a method havingequivalent effects thereto.

Preferable examples of the support and the filter medium in the waterpurifier are supports and filter media selected as appropriate fromherkimer diamond, lapis lazuli, howlite, amethyst, garnet, sapphire,aquamarine, yellow jasper, rose quartz, moonstone, carnelian,tourmaline, pearl, amber, ferrite magnet, granite porphyry, coral,phyllite, quartz diorite-porphyrite, graphite silica, magnetite,lodestone, quartz schist, bincho charcoal, bamboo charcoal, activatedcharcoal, KDF alloy, water containing agate, ceramics, and so on;however, there is no limitation thereto, with it being possible tosimilarly use supports and filter media having equivalent effectsthereto.

Because the water prepared using a method as described above containsPaenibacillus sp. bacteria (and an extracellular product thereof), amilk-coagulating action can be obtained merely by adding this water tothe starting material milk. The water containing Paenibacillus sp.bacteria, or the water in which are immobilized Paenibacillus sp.bacteria, is added in a suitable amount to the starting material milk.Here, the amount added of the water is preferably at least 10 wt %; thehigher the amount of the water, the faster the starting material milk iscoagulated through the milk-coagulating action of the water. However,although this method is fine in the case that the amount produced of theproduct is small, in the case that the amount produced of the product ismore than a certain amount (e.g. more than 500 liters), then a vessel(cheese vat) having double the capacity will be required.

Considering the production efficiency at a factory, this would be verydisadvantageous, and hence it is preferable to first produce afermentation starter using the starting material milk and the watercontaining Paenibacillus sp. bacteria. Specifically, taking 1% of thestarting material milk as a guide, starting material milk for thestarter is prepared, and the same amount of the water containingPaenibacillus sp. bacteria is added thereto. The resulting mixture ismaintained at 30 to 38° C. for approximately 24 hours, thus carrying outfermentation and culturing, and once the pH has reached approximately4.6, this culture is added to the starting material milk as a starter.Through this operation, the production efficiency can be kept high, andhence the production efficiency of the cheese-like dairy product usingthe water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria can be improved.

Next, the starting material milk is heated to 30 to 38° C. Thistemperature condition is the optimum coagulation reaction temperature.After the starting material milk has been coagulated, the curd is cutup, and then the temperature is raised to 30 to 53° C. while stirring.At this time, it is preferable to raise the temperature gradually ratherthan at a single stroke. As a result, it becomes possible to utilize tothe utmost the action of bacteria that are activated in any of varioustemperature ranges, i.e. psychrophiles, mesophiles, and thermophiles.Moreover, in the case of producing a hard type cheese-like dairyproduct, the temperature is raised to approximately 53° C.

Next, once the acidity has reached pH 6 to 4, the curd and whey areseparated, and once transparent whey has appeared, whey removal iscarried out. In this case, the curd is subjected to the whey removalonce the acidity has reached pH 6 to 4; the subsequent quality andflavor of the cheese-like dairy product differs between the case thatthe whey removal is carried out when the acidity is pH 4 and the casethat the whey removal is carried out when the acidity is pH 6. It isthus preferable to carry out the whey removal at a suitable aciditybetween pH 6 and 4, giving consideration to the desired quality andflavor of the cheese-like dairy product.

Next, the curd is matured. When maturing the curd, the curd is steeped,for example, in saturated brine, preferably approximately 20% saturatedbrine. By steeping the curd in 20% saturated brine after the curd hasbeen pressed in gauze, a flavorsome cheese-like dairy product can beproduced. Moreover, by steeping the curd in saturated brine for 3 monthsto 1 year or longer, the degree of maturation can be increased.

Next, the curd is taken out from the saturated brine, and is dewateredwhereby a fresh type product can be produced, or is air-dried and storedwhereby a semi-hard type product or a hard type product can be produced.By steeping the curd in saturated brine in this way, infiltration ofunwanted bacteria from the outside can be prevented, and hence a highlysafe cheese-like dairy product can be produced, and moreover acheese-like dairy product having a mellow saltiness can be obtained. Solong as the cheese-like dairy product of the present invention isprepared by coagulating milk using the method described above, there areno particular limitations on the type of the cheese-like dairy product,with all types of product being included in the present invention.Moreover, a milk-coagulating agent of the present invention is preparedby incorporating therein as an active ingredient Paenibacillus sp.bacteria and/or an extracellular product thereof, and is used formulatedinto a suitable form. There are no particular limitations on the methodof incorporating the active ingredient, the proportion of the activeingredient, or the carrier, with design being carried out as appropriatein accordance with the usage.

A water purifier of the present invention is characterized by beingpacked with a support having Paenibacillus sp. bacteria as describedabove immobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing material.Here, a preferable example of the support is a ceramic sintered bodymanufactured by subjecting a ceramic starting material to forming andsintering, but there is no limitation thereto, with it being possible tosimilarly use any other support having equivalent effects. Moreover,preferable examples of the filter medium are supports and filter mediaselected as appropriate from herkimer diamond, lapis lazuli, howlite,amethyst, garnet, sapphire, aquamarine, yellowjasper, rosequartz,moonstone, carnelian, tourmaline, pearl, amber, ferrite magnet, graniteporphyry, coral, phyllite, quartz diorite-porphyrite, graphite silica,magnetite, lodestone, quartz schist, bincho charcoal, bamboo charcoal,activated charcoal, KDF alloy, water containing agate, ceramics, and soon, with it being possible to use these in combination as appropriate.In the present invention, the above-mentioned supports and filter mediaare used in a freely chosen combination with design being carried out asappropriate. With the water purifier of the present invention, apartfrom the constitution specified above, an ordinary water purifierconstitution can be used, with there being no particular limitations onthe constitution.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, the present invention will be described concretely throughexperimental examples and working examples; however, the presentinvention is not limited whatsoever by the following experimentalexamples and working examples.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 1

In the present experimental example, water that had been treated using awater purifier packed with a support having Paenibacillus sp. bacteriaimmobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing material was addedto starting material milk, thus trialing the production of a rawcheese-like product having the form of soft lumps.

(1) Experimental Method

1) Water Purifier

A water purifier packed with a ceramic sintered body having cells ofPaenibacillus sp. bacteria (FERM P-18138) immobilized thereon andanother filter medium as a packing material was used.

2) Preparation of Cheese-Like Dairy Product

3 liters of raw milk and 2 liters of water that had been passed throughthe water purifier were mixed together to prepare 5 liters of mixedliquid. Neither the raw milk nor the water had been subjected to heattreatment. The mixed liquid was put into a vessel, the vessel wasimmersed in steep water, the temperature was held at 20° C., andcoagulation was carried out over 24 hours. Maintaining room temperatureat 20° C., the experiment was carried out 10 times for raw cow's milk,and 5 times for goat's milk. Additives (fermenting yeast, interfacialyeast, rennin) were not added to the above-mentioned mixed liquid. Afterthe mixed liquid had been coagulated, the milk plasma was removed usinga straining cloth at 20° C. over 24 hours, and then after a further 24hours, the coagulated mass was put into a shaping mold and thus shaped.Sudden changes were seen in the product 24 hours and 48 hours afterputting into the mold. Salting was carried out twice: approximately 2%of dry salt relative to the weight of the cheese was sprinkled onto thesurface immediately after putting into the mold and after the firstchange. 48 hours after carrying out the shaping, the cheese was removedfrom the mold, and maturation was carried out at approximately 15° C.

3) Bacteriological Analysis

To test the safety of the product, an analysis was carried out of theviable count in the product of Staphylococcus aureus, salmonellabacteria, coli bacteria and Listeria monocytogenes.

(2) Results

1) Physicochemical Properties

For each experiment, the mixed liquid was coagulated in 24 hours, and 24hours after straining the coagulum produced was of high quality, havingan appearance like soft cheese that is spread on bread, and being verysmooth on the tongue and thus highly palatable. 48 hours after puttinginto the mold, the cheese-like product produced maintained its shapewithout disintegrating. The cheese closely resembled orthodox softCamembert cheese in terms of density, feel and texture.

2) Bacteriological Properties

The results of the bacteriological analysis are shown in Tables 1 to 3.Here, Table 3 shows the analysis results for a cheese of a comparativeexample prepared through a traditional production method using the samestarting material milk.

TABLE 1 Raw cow's milk cheese-like product of the present inventionAnalyzed bacteria Result Standard value Staphylococcus aureus/gSalmonella bacteria/g Zero Zero Coli bacteria/g Listeriamonocytogenes/25 g Zero Zero

TABLE 2 Goat's milk cheese-like product of the present invention maturedfor 3 months Analyzed bacteria Result Standard value Staphylococcusaureus/g Salmonella bacteria/g Zero Zero Coli bacteria/g Listeriamonocytogenes/25 g Zero Zero

TABLE 3 Raw cow's milk cheese produced using traditional method(comparative example) Analyzed bacteria Result Standard valueStaphylococcus aureus/g Salmonella bacteria/g Zero Zero Coli bacteria/g

From the analysis results in Tables 1 and 2, it can be seen that theviable count was below the standard value for all of the types ofbacteria, showing that water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria (i.e.containing an extracellular product thereof) has an action of inhibitingthese types of bacteria. It can thus be seen that by using watercontaining Paenibacillus sp. bacteria, production can be carried outadequately using raw milk, not only pasteurized milk.

It is highly significant that the number of bacteria detected in thecheese-like product produced was very small. Looking at the resultscomparing the raw cow's milk cheese produced using the traditionalmethod (Table 3) and the cheese-like products produced using a waterpurifier according to the present invention (Tables 1 and 2), theanalysis results show that the number of bacteria in the lattercheese-like products is very low. That is, comparing with the analysisresults for the cheese produced using the traditional method (Table 3),it can be seen that the number of bacteria in the cheese-like productproduced using the water purifier (Table 1) is very low. These two typesof analysis results were obtained from cheese and a cheese-like productprepared using the same starting material milk. Furthermore, thebacteriological analysis results in Table 2 were also good. Theseanalysis results for the cheese-like product matured for 3 months show abacterial contamination rate that is almost unbelievably low for a rawmilk product.

With the present invention, a soft lumpy cheese-like product can beproduced merely by mixing together water that has been passed through awater purifier as described above and raw milk (i.e. without addingadditives). This fact would be very hard to believe for a person workingin traditional cheese production. A big advantage of the presentinvention is that the number of bacteria in the cheese-like product isgreatly reduced, and hence a low habitation rate of pathogenic bacteriacan be completely (100%) maintained. Data on the time limit forconsumption of the product is also excellent.

Next, working examples with regard to methods of producing a hard typecheese-like product, a semi-hard type cheese-like product, a pastafilata type cheese-like product, and a fresh type cheese-like productwill be described in detail.

EXAMPLE 1

(Production of Hard Type Cheese-like Product)

Starting material milk was coagulated as in Experimental Example 1, thecurd produced was cut up, and then the curd was heated from 30° C. to53° C., thus discharging whey and lactose from the curd as much aspossible. Once the curd particles had become about as big as grains ofrice, the curd was collected together in whey, and was then put into amold, and was pressed. Next, the curd was steeped in brine and heated.Maturation was carried out for 4 months during which time surfacetreatment was carried out, whereby a hard type cheese-like product wasobtained.

EXAMPLE 2

(Production of Semi-hard Type Cheese-like Product)

Curd was prepared as in Experimental Example 1, and once the pH of thecurd had become approximately 6.4, the curd was accumulated in whey,preliminary pressing was carried out to produce a mat, and then the curdwas put into a mold and pressed by placing a weight thereon, whereby asemi-hard type cheese-like product was obtained.

EXAMPLE 3

(Production of Pasta Filata Type Cheese-like Product)

Curd was prepared as in Experimental Example 1, and once the pH of thecurd had become 5.2, the curd was kneaded in hot water from 85° C. to100° C. to produce a soft dough like mochi rice cake, and then aftershaping, steeping in brine was carried out, whereby a pasta filata typecheese-like product was obtained.

EXAMPLE 4

(Production of Fresh Type Cheese-like Product)

Curd was prepared as in Experimental Example 1, the pH of the curd wasreduced as far as 4.8, the whey was drained off, and a small amount ofsalt (approximately 1%) for shaping was mixed in and kneading wascarried out. Once the shape had set, the curd was put into brine andheated, and then dry salt was rubbed in (salt content approximately 2%of cheese). Next, maturation was carried out for 3 months during whichtime surface treatment was carried out, whereby a fresh type cheese-likeproduct was obtained.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the cheese-like dairy product and method of producing thesame of the present invention, the following remarkable effects areobtained.

-   (1) A high-quality cheese-like dairy product can be produced    efficiently and economically, without using rennet, which is    expensive, or a starter, merely by adding at least 10 wt % of water    containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria (i.e. containing an    extracellular product thereof) to starting material milk.-   (2) A water purifier packed with a support having Paenibacillus sp.    bacteria immobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing    material can be provided.-   (3) A cheese-like dairy product that is highly safe and has a mature    flavor can be provided.-   (4) A milk-coagulating agent for production of a cheese-like dairy    product that contains Paenibacillus sp. bacteria and enables a    cheese-like dairy product as described above to be produced can be    provided.    Statement of Deposited Microorganism-   Name and address of depository institution: International Patent    Organism Depositary, National Institute of Advanced Industrial    Science and Technology (Independent Administrative Institution)    (address: Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki,-   Japan (postal code 305-8566))-   Date deposited: Dec. 8, 2000-   Accession number: FERM P-18138-   Indication of microorganism: Paeni

1. A method of producing a cheese-like dairy product, comprising addingat least 10 wt. %, relative to a starting material milk, of watercontaining Paenibacillus sp. bacteria or at least 10 wt. %, relative toa starting material milk, of water that has been treated withimmobilized cells of said Paenibacillus sp. Bacteria into the startingmaterial milk to form a mixture, followed by maintaining the mixture ata temperature of at least 20° C. to form curd, and separating off thecurd thus formed.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein thestarting material milk is any one of raw milk,low-temperature-pasteurized milk, high-temperature-sterilized milk, andultrapasteurized milk.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein themixture is held at 20° C. or heated to 30 to 38° C., and furthercomprising separating the curd and whey once the pH has reached 4 to 6.4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising maturing theseparated off curd by immersing it in saturated brine.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein water, which has been treated using awater purifier packed with a support having said Paenibacillus sp.bacteria immobilized thereon and a filter medium as a packing material,is added to the starting material milk.
 6. The method according to claim5, wherein the support contains, as a constituent thereof, a sinteredbody obtained by sintering a ceramic starting material.
 7. Amilk-coagulating agent for producing a cheese-like dairy product, saidagent comprising at least one of Paenibacillus sp. Bacteria and anextracellular product thereof.
 8. A cheese-like dairy product producedusing the method according to claim
 1. 9. A water purifier packed with asupport having Paenibacillus sp. bacteria immobilized thereon and afilter medium.
 10. The water purifier according to claim 9, wherein thesupport comprises, as a constituent thereof, a sintered body obtained bysintering a ceramic starting material.
 11. The milk-coagulating agentaccording to claim 7, said agent comprising Paenibacillus sp. Bacteria.12. The method of producing a cheese-like dairy product according toclaim 1, comprising adding at least 10 wt. %, relative to a startingmaterial milk, of water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteria into thestarting material milk to form a mixture.
 13. The method of producing acheese-like dairy product according to claim 1, comprising adding atleast 10 wt. %, relative to a starting material milk, of water that hasbeen treated with immobilized cells of said Paenibacillus sp. Bacteriainto the starting material milk to form a mixture.
 14. The method ofproducing a cheese-like dairy product according to claim 2, comprisingadding at least 10 wt. %, relative to a starting material milk, of watercontaining Paenibacillus sp. bacteria into the starting material milk toform a mixture.
 15. The method of producing a cheese-like dairy productaccording to claim 2, comprising adding at least 10 wt. %, relative to astarting material milk, of water that has been treated with immobilizedcells of said Paenibacillus sp. Bacteria into the starting material milkto form a mixture.
 16. The method of producing a cheese-like dairyproduct according to claim 3, comprising adding at least 10 wt. %,relative to a starting material milk, of water containing Paenibacillussp. bacteria into the starting material milk to form a mixture.
 17. Themethod of producing a cheese-like dairy product according to claim 3,comprising adding at least 10 wt. %, relative to a starting materialmilk, of water that has been treated with immobilized cells of saidPaenibacillus sp. Bacteria into the starting material milk to form amixture.
 18. The method of producing a cheese-like dairy productaccording to claim 4, comprising adding at least 10 wt. %, relative to astarting material milk, of water containing Paenibacillus sp. bacteriainto the starting material milk to form a mixture.
 19. The method ofproducing a cheese-like dairy product according to claim 4, comprisingadding at least 10 wt. %, relative to a starting material milk, of waterthat has been treated with immobilized cells of said Paenibacillus sp.Bacteria into the starting material milk to form a mixture.
 20. Acheese-like dairy product produced using the method according to claim18.